After the deepest and longest drop in charitable donations in at least four decades, Americans are on track to give record amounts this year. However, the surge in charitable giving is coming almost exclusively from the wealthy, as lower and middle class incomes drop.

August jobs report, other studies weaken notion that part-time workers will become a bigger part of the economy. The Obamacare effect also seems limited, but jobs data are too volatile to say for sure yet.

US unemployment rate drops to 7.4 percent, but hours worked and wages drop slightly in July. Also this week in the economy: Stock market hits new record and tech world eyes Google's new hardware offerings

Chinese imports and technological change displace US workers in much different ways, a new study finds. Imports destroy jobs only in certain hubs; technology hits much more broadly, but creates as many jobs as it kills.

US manufacturing index falls to lowest level since June 2009, according to the Institute for Supply Management, part of a slowdown in factory activity in key areas of the globe. While manufacturing growth is slowing, it's not going away, analysts say.

The Federal Reserve and the US Treasury are investigating whether Bloomberg reporters used the company's terminals to glean inappropriate information about officials' data use. Just viewing the information can be a felony, under federal law.

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting the 15000 milestone and economic signals flashing continued growth, the case for bull market optimists looks stronger. But there are reasons to be cautious about a retrenchment of the Dow.

The bull market that started in 2009 is proving to be one for the history books. From 2009 through the end of 2013, the market is up 173 percent, as measured by the Standard & Poor's 500 index. So how does that stack up against the biggest bull markets of the past eight decades? Take a look: